IceHogs hold off late Wolves charge

ROCKFORD - Just one week ago, the Rockford IceHogs learned that two-goal leads and even a late lead on the Chicago Wolves are not safe.

Hop in the time machine seven days later, and once again Rockford led Chicago by a pair Friday - and by one goal as time ticked down.

While the Wolves made it extremely uncomfortable, the hot 'Hogs held on for a 2-1 victory to extend their point streak to eight games.

The game ended with close to 11 players in the IceHogs crease as the final horn sounded, allowing the BMO Harris Bank Center crowd of 6,007 to collectively exhale. After all, the Wolves had tied the game with 3.5 seconds to go last weekend on the way to a 5-4 overtime win. This time, they called time out with 6.5 seconds remaining to set up the final tense moments.

"I was fine, but it did get a little scrambly there at the end, obviously," said Rockford goalie Jason LaBarbera, who made 21 saves. "They threw it at the net and crashed, and luckily we were able to hold the fort there."

"I thought we played a good game tonight," 'Hogs coach Ted Dent said. "I thought it was hard both ways. We got that power-play goal, which was big, as well as a couple of penalty kills (3-for-3, including one for three minutes)."

Rockford (27-21-4-3, 61 points) moved to a season-high six games over .500, and is on a 7-0-0-1 roll. Chicago (29-17-4-2, 64) had its eight-game point streak (6-0-2-0) snapped.

A scoreless game was changed on goals by Brandon Pirri (9th, 13:55) and Garret Ross (13th, power play at 15:28) less than two minutes apart in the second period.

Jeremy Morin and Brad Winchester assisted, with Pirri extending his point streak to five games and Morin his to eight.

Ross cleaned up a puck in front of the net to pad the lead. Pierre-Marc Bouchard earned the primary assist and Pirri got the secondary helper.

Chris Porter made it 2-1 at 7:06 of the third, 30 seconds after he exited the penalty box. Then came the dramatics in the final 2:04, when Rockford had to kill a penalty and then survive Chicago pulling goalie Jake Allen for an extra attacker.

"You could just tell they had a little momentum at the end, but guys weren't panicking," Pirri said. "We seemed more prepared for it, and it shows we're maturing a little bit. Guys are sacrificing in the last minute, and it's a really good thing to see."